Vision
by ICantThinkofanOriginalName
Summary: They were stupid. So, sooooo stupid. Blossom couldn't even look at herself with them on. He knew they made her look stupid. She could still hear his obnoxious laughter bouncing around her head. Stupid laughter at her expense. Stupid green eyes mocking every move she made. She could beat stupid. She certainly had before. But...did she really want to this time?
1. Chapter 1

_She couldn't believe she had gotten pulled out of school for Mojo's stupid shenanigans again. Shouldn't he be bored of setting "killer" robots loose in the city? What did he even hope to accomplish?_

 _Her sisters were shooting off in different directions, each trying to ensure that the damage was contained to only one area of the city. Blossom turned to face the ridiculous pieces of metal in front of her. Mojo hadn't even bothered changing the general design of the hunks of junk. Heck, maybe they were even the original robots. That would make them over a decade old. Easy._

 _Down one went, then another. They fell like dominoes. So simple. She had taken care of them in a matter of seconds. Smugly, she dusted some invisible dirt off of her skirt and looked around at the silent devices scattered at her feet. In her brief moment of victory, however, she had failed to notice one lone bot just to her left turning its head ever-so-slightly in her direction. It hadn't been quite destroyed, and was still able to recognize its target with ease. It's red eyes began to glow, brighter and brighter, until finally Blossom turned in its direction._

 _It only took a second. A blast of light hit her square in the face and she fell to her knees in pain. She could practically feel the chemical x rushing to her face to reverse the effects of the laser. Somewhere in the back of her mind she registered someone yelling her name, and the grating metallic crunch of metal being crushed nearby._

 _Slowly, the face subsided and she began to blink as her eyesight came back to her. The chemical X had done its job, as usual. Or...wait...why wasn't...maybe it wasn't quite done. She could see her surroundings, but they were strangely...blurred? Even her sister's faces were distorted and unrecognizable. Surely this was just a brief after effect. She blinked one, twice, thrice more. No change._

 _She stumbled to her feet and shook her head. "Ugh...is that everything?"_

 _"Think so," Buttercup grumbled to her left. "Dammit, now I won't have time to finish lunch."_

 _Normally Blossom would have corrected Buttercup's crude language, but she was still trying to blink away the strange blurriness that had overcome her vision. Her forehead creased as she tried to make out her surroundings. Strange. Maybe the chemical X was taking a little longer than normal? Perhaps she should go home and ask the Professor._

 _No. That was nonsense. She still had a solid three hours of school left that she couldn't afford to skip. Her eyes would be fine in just a few minutes._

 _"Let's get out of here," she suggested and took off in the direction of their school, only slam into a building that she thought had been ten feet away from her._

* * *

Blossom was sitting with her head down and her shoulders slumped, biting her lip so hard it felt like she might draw blood. The Professor sat to her right, talking quietly to a middle-aged man wearing a crisp, white coat. With a sigh, Blossom told herself that she probably ought to hear what they were saying and shifted her attention back to the conversation in time to hear the Professor ask, "So, what's the prognosis?"

The doctor paused for a moment and rifled through the papers he had in his hand. "Well," he began, "it seems that the blow to her face she received during her last fight did some damage to her eyes as well. That's why her vision has been blurred these past few days."

"Yes, we figured that. But she's not healing like she normally would. How long would the effects last for an...average person," asked the Professor.

The optometrist shook his head. "That's the issue. It would appear that the injury affected the curvature of the cornea; she has an astigmatism. Normally the damage is permanent. I'm assuming that since she hasn't 'healed' like you thought she would the chances of her regaining her former visual capabilities are slim. She's going to need a vision aid to help her see clearly."

Glasses. Great - Buttercup was right. She was going to have to wear glasses. Stupid Mojo and his stupid robots and their stupid lasers. One of them managed to get one lucky shot that hit her square in the face, and now she couldn't freaking see. Her. Blossom Utonium. She has to wear _glasses_. It wasn't fair. She didn't understand why her eyes didn't heal like the rest of her. Could it be that she had a weakness? Were her eyes more susceptible injury because they weren't as strong as the rest of her? No. That was nonsense. She's the leader of the freaking Powerpuff Girls! She doesn't have any weaknesses. Her eyes would be back to normal soon.

Right?

Blossom's thoughts followed her out of the office and stood with her as she faced a wall that was covered with empty frames. Someone nearby was telling her to pick out a pair. She reached out and grabbed the pair that was nearest to her. It didn't really matter to her what they looked like. After all, her eyes were going to fix themselves. They had to. She wouldn't need to wear the dang things for very long.

The remainder of the appointment seemed to drag on for hours. Didn't they realize that she just wanted to get home and finish her homework so she could go to bed? She had to be at school early the next morning to make up for the classes she missed because of Mojo's stupid attack.

Eventually, though not soon enough, Blossom found herself sliding into the front seat of the Professor's car. She folded her arms and stared out the window as the blurry world slowly slipped past the vehicle. She had always hated riding in the car; it always took at least twice as long as flying. An annoyed sigh slipped from between her lips as the Professor slowed to a stop at an intersection.

Blossom could feel the Professor's concerned gaze burning into the side of her face as they waited for the light to turn green. She refused to acknowledge it. Yes, it was silly and irrational, but she couldn't help being a little bit irritated with him for not being able to fix what had happened. Sure, she knew that he had tried everything he could think of - he had even straight up given her an injection of Chemical X when everything else seemed to fail - but he was supposed to know how to fix everything!

"Blossom," the Professor began as the car started to move once more. "I know you're not happy about this, but look on the bright side! At least you're not blind."

Her head snapped towards him, an expression that screamed "you're not helping" filling her face. The Professor gave her a halfhearted smile and set his eyes firmly back on the road. Blossom shook her head and turned back towards the window.

"I don't see why I need these," Blossom finally spoke. "My eyesight might be a little off, but it's really not that bad."

As they approached yet another red light - another thing Blossom hated about driving; at least with flying she didn't have to stop every few minutes - the Professor turned back towards her. "Last time you tried to fly, you ended up crashing into a building - twice! I'm not going to allow it. At least not until you get used to your glasses."

Blossom mumbled a retort under her breath. The Professor frowned slightly and turned his attention back to the road. The two of them remained in silence for the rest of the ride home. Before Blossom could get out of the car, however, the Professor stopped her.

"Um, perhaps you should go ahead and put your new glasses on. Then your sisters can see what they look like when you go in!"

Grudgingly, Blossom slapped her hand onto the case that housed her new - and unwanted - accessory. She flipped down the passenger-side sun visor and opened the mirror so she could see her face as she slid the glasses up her nose. Then she froze in horror.

Perhaps she should have paid more attention when she was picking out the frame. Perhaps they should have made her try them on and look in the mirror first. That was what they were supposed to do, wasn't it? To stop her from picking out the stupidest set? Oh, gosh, she looked ridiculous. No, worse than that. She had been hoping that she would have the same effect as when Wonder Woman wore glasses as part of her 'disguise' - you know, where they're obviously on her face but they actually look pretty good and aren't distracting at all? Nope. That wasn't what she looked like at all.

They were - in her opinion - the worst glasses she could have possibly gotten. She looked like Ariel from that meme, and not in a good way. Ugh, she was never going to hear the end of this from her sisters. Buttercup already called her a nerd. Now she actually looked the part. Briefly she considered taking the glasses off and acting as though she didn't have them, or even 'accidentally' breaking them, but she knew they would have to see them sometime. Might as well get the worst of it over with now.

Blossom slowly made her way into the house, dragging her feet slightly the whole time. Bubbles and Buttercup were lounging on the couch in the living room, and both sat up and turned to look at her as she and the Professor came in. Almost immediately, Buttercup began to snicker at the sight of her sister. Bubbles hit the brunette lightly on the shoulder, but all that did was make her press her lips together and muffle the sound. Blossom sighed. She knew this would happen.

"Wow, Blossom" Bubbles began to say. "You look, um-"

"She looks like a dweeb," Buttercup said, still trying unsuccessfully to hold back her laughter.

"No she does not! Don't listen to her, Blossom. You look great in those," Bubbles told her with an encouraging smile. Blossom's lips started to turn up slightly in a smile at her sister's optimism, but it fell almost immediately as Buttercup let out a snort of laughter and loudly declared, "Oh, my gosh, she looks like Dexter!"

"Buttercup!"

"No, really, look at her! She's got the red hair and the glasses. Now all she needs is a lab coat and some rubber gloves. They could be twins."

Bubbles looked at Blossom's bespectacled face and, before she could stop herself, let out a small giggle. Blossom's eyes flashed with annoyance.

"Thanks guys. It's good to know that you'll always make me feel good about myself," Blossom said, her voice dripping with bitter sarcasm. She quickly made her way up the stairs and to her room, ignoring her sisters' calls for her to come back.

Finally alone, Blossom threw herself down face first on her bed. She grumbled uncomfortably as the glasses poked into her face. Angrily, she swiped them off of her nose and threw them onto her bedside table. Then she just sat there, picking her head up and dropping it heavily onto her pillow over and over again until she was finally able reconcile the fact that, at least for the moment, she was stuck with the darn things. She slammed her fist into her mattress and sat up - this was stupid. She was better than this. She shouldn't be moping around like a little kid. It was beneath her. No, she would just learn to deal with it and move on. After all, she was supposed to be the responsible Powerpuff, and that's what a responsible, reasonable person would do.

She arranged her face into a determined, serious expression and reached over the edge of her bed for her backpack. If she was going to just sit around, she might as well try to be productive and work on her homework. She slid out one of her notebooks, flipped it open, and began to study.

Or, at least, she tried to. The words were so blurred she couldn't make anything out. With yet another disappointed sigh, she leaned over and grabbed the glasses from off of her bedside table and shoved them onto her face. There was an immediate difference. As much as she hated to admit it, she really did need them.

After about half an hour had passed, there was a soft knock on her door. Blossom could tell that it was her sisters, and unenthusiastically called out for them to come in. The door swung open and Bubbles skipped inside, followed closely by Buttercup.

"Look Bloss, we're sorry. It's just...it was a little more...we didn't think...sorry, but you kinda look like a nerd and we couldn't help it," Buttercup said. She didn't look sorry at all.

"She doesn't mean it," Bubbles said as she turned and sent her green-eyed sister a glare. Buttercup rolled her eyes and plopped herself down next to Blossom.

"Oh, fine, Bubbles is right. It's not the glasses that make you look like a nerd. You already looked like one before," Buttercup said with smile. Blossom rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the notes in her hand.

"They're really not _that_ bad. It's just a little...different, that's all," Bubbles told her. "I don't think they'll hurt your chances in couples' season, anyways. You're still one of the prettiest girls in school."

"Bubbles, it's not that, I...wait, what? What do you mean my glasses won't 'hurt my chances?'" Blossom asked.

"Well, I don't think they'll ruin your couples' season."

Blossom shot a confused glanced at Buttercup, who rolled her eyes theatrically and told her, "You weren't here when she was explaining it earlier. She has this theory that fall and winter are the "couples' season" where everybody gets together and starts dating. Supposedly summer is the 'break up' season."

"Wh-wait, why would you think that I would care about that?" Blossom questioned, turning back to face Bubbles. The blonde shrugged slightly.

"Well, you know, I just figured you haven't done the couples' season before, so this was probably your year," Bubbles said matter-of-factly. "Don't worry, we can work with the glasses. I know a few guys who probably won't care."

"Yeah, like Dexter," Buttercup put in with a smirk.

Blossom shook her head, ignoring Buttercup's comment and instead turning her full attention towards Bubbles. "Seriously? You think I care about that? First of all, there's no such thing as a "couple's season", it's just an assertion you made based on some pretty limited observations. Secondly, no. Just...no."

"Whatever," Bubbles said. "Just wait, you'll see what I mean. And don't worry; glasses or no glasses, we'll get you a guy."

"I don't want one!" Blossom exclaimed.

"That's the same thing Buttercup said, but I already know the _perfect_ person for her. And I have a few ideas for you, too. Just give me a couple of weeks. It'll all work out."

"Nononono, where did this even come from," Blossom asked. "I really don't care about dating. I have too much stuff to do with school and crimefighting and everything else. You can try to hook Buttercup up with somebody, but leave me out of this."

"Hey, I don't wanna have a guy forced on me either," Buttercup yelled. Bubbles gave them a "you'll see" look and moved to leave the room. "Whatever you say, guys," said the blonde as she began to walk out. "You'll see, I'll work everything out."

She shut the door behind her, leaving Blossom alone with Buttercup. The two sisters looked at each other and started to laugh.

"Is she actually being serious?" Blossom asked.

"I think she is," Buttercup said. "Just give her a few days, though. She'll forget all about it." Buttercup picked herself up off the bed. "But she's right about the glasses. They don't look that bad. I was just...having a little fun. You look fine." Blossom mumbled a quick "thanks" in return.

Buttercup looked down at Blossom's notes, her eyes widening. "Crap, that Biology test is tomorrow, isn't it?"

Blossom sighed and asked, "Do you need to borrow my notes again?"

With a sheepish smile, the brunette said, "I think I might." Blossom sighed and gently tossed her notebook to her sister. "You know," the ginger said, "if you would just stay awake and take notes in class like you're supposed to, you wouldn't need to borrow mine the night before."

Her green-eyed sister grinned at her. "But then we wouldn't have this great sister bonding time where you explain everything to me."

"That's going to take _forever_."

"Yep. Like I said - bonding."

* * *

Blossom rubbed at her eyes and blinked against the disgustingly bright morning sunlight. Buttercup was snoring softly next to her; the two of them had stayed up late trying to get her ready for their Biology exam that day and eventually fell asleep in the same spots they had been sitting in for hours. So much for the good night's sleep Blossom had wanted to get. She dragged her notebook out from underneath her sleeping sister's arm and threw it down near her backpack before getting up and walking to the mirror on her vanity.

Her glasses were still settled awkwardly on her face - she must have forgotten to take them off before falling asleep. She adjusted their position slightly and took in her appearance. In all honesty, she looked terrible. Her eyes were somewhat puffy from the little sleep she had gotten, her bow was tangled into her hair, and she was still wearing her wrinkled clothes from the night before. She leaned against her vanity and put her face in her hands. Really, she just didn't feel like trying today.

She walked into her closet and changed into a pink hoodie that was just a little to large for her and a basic black pair of leggings. There. Comfortable. That's all she really cared about at the moment.

Once she had gotten dressed, she walked back to her vanity mirror and sat down in front of it. Surely there was something she could do for her hair. Slowly, painfully, she dragged a comb through the tangles until she finally managed to remove the ribbon she had worn the day before. Within a few more strokes of the comb, her hair was lying mostly flat. Blossom pulled it back into her usual ponytail and retied the ribbon around it. Briefly she attempted to mess with her bangs to get them to fit around the frame of her glasses, then admitted defeat and let them do what they felt like doing.

Should she bother with makeup that day? There really didn't seem to be a point. Blossom walked to the bathroom and washed her face before returning to her bedroom and roughly shaking Buttercup's shoulder until she woke up. The two of them walked downstairs together, Buttercup grumbling the whole time, and joined their other sister at the breakfast table. Once the three of them had eaten, they finished getting ready for school and left the house.

It was the first time Blossom had flown in days, and it was glorious. She hadn't realized how much she loved to feel of the wind whipping her hair around her head. She felt exhilarated...until the glasses began to slip down her nose and she had to clumsily force them back in place.

The sisters arrived at school within the next few minutes and split apart, each one going to a different activity before school started. Blossom made up a math test that she had missed a few days before, then went off to sit in her homeroom until class started.

Most of her morning was rather uneventful, other than one particularly annoying moment when Princess and her little band of followers spent a solid half hour pointing out the fact the Blossom was wearing glasses and attempting to make fun of her for it. Her cheeks tinged somewhat pink with embarrassment and she felt a strong urge to send a well-aimed energy beam at her, but she was able to ignore the compulsion until the end of class.

A few hours later into the school day, Blossom and Buttercup were sitting next to each other in the science lab, the latter bouncing her leg nervously and shooting anxious glances at the other. Their teacher walked around and placed their exams in front of them.

Blossom had finished about half of the test when a loud ringing broke out in the classroom. An emergency. Great. Just what she wanted to be doing right now - flying off into town to take care of who-knows-what in the middle of the day. She and Buttercup looked up at their teacher, who lazily waved them out of the classroom without even looking at them. It wasn't the first time the hotline had interrupted them in class.

The two of them ran out into the hallway, Blossom answering her phone while Buttercup shot off the find Bubbles. After two minutes of trying to make out what the Mayor was trying to tell her, Miss Bellum finally took over the phone and said, "It's the Rowdyruff's. They're at Townsville Credit Union." Blossom groaned and relayed the information to her sisters and soon the three of them were flying towards the bank, with Blossom holding up the rear because her glasses kept trying to fly off.

They found themselves landing on the road outside the credit union, folding their arms and taking up their usual defensive stances. The Rowdyruff Boys appeared in front of them carrying backpacks stuffed full of what Blossom could only assume was stolen money.

"Well, well, well," Brick began with a smirk. "What a surprise, it's-" He broke off and slammed his hand against his mouth in disbelief as his shoulders began to shake with laughter. "What the hell is on your face, Pinky?"

Blossom could feel her face redden and shifted uncomfortably. "That's none of your concern. Now if you would please -"

"They're _glasses_ ," Brick screeched, genuine laughter now spilling from him. Blossom gripped her elbows, trying to hold in the anger she felt as she stared down the hat-clad idiot that stood across from her.

"We should call her four-eyes," Boomer interjected, his own laughter filling the air. Brick's smile fell immediately and he smacked his brother across the back of his head.

"What the hell have I told you about trying to make up stupid insults like that," the auburn-haired brother asked. Boomer looked down and mumbled, "you said that they make me look like a dumb pansy little girl."

"Well, you are," Butch cut in.

"Enough!" Brick yelled.

"He's right, this is pointless," Buttercup called out. "You know you're gonna lose, so just drop the stuff and get out of here."

"Do ya really think it'll be that easy, toots?" Brick responded. "Well, guess you've got another thing coming for ya."

With that, the three Rowdyruffs shot forward, knocking the girls down and taking off into the sky above them. "After them, girls," Blossom yelled as she picked herself up, and the three sisters shot up into the air. They caught up to the boys quickly, and a fight broke out in midair above the city.

For once, Blossom wasn't fighting with an exact plan in mind; really, all she was doing was going after whoever was nearest to her at the time and praying it wasn't one of her sisters. She saw Bubbles getting shoved back towards the ground by Brick, and stopped to go after her. Just as she tensed to shoot herself downwards, something heavy slammed into her side. The force of it threw her into the top story of a nearby building. She was winded, and before she could recover something landed on her stomach.

Looking up, she saw Butch's foot planted firmly on her diaphragm. He was sneering down at her, his hands twitching with the excitement of the situation. In a quick and unexpected movement, one of his hands shot down and hooked onto her glasses, ripping them off of her face. The world blurred instantly.

"Hehe, where _did_ these come from," he asked, laughter coloring his voice. "Don't tell me you actually need these."

"Give them back!" Blossom launched herself towards Butch, but the blurred edged of his form made her misjudge exactly where he stood and she found herself slamming into a wall instead of a person. Butch's excited laughter filled the space around them as he grabbed her hair and spun her around to face him once more. She could see the outline of his hand begin to raise up and tensed herself to spring forward with a counterattack.

To her surprise, however, she found that he slid her glasses back onto her face. "That's just too easy," he said with a sneer. "Where's the fun in fighting a weak little dork like you?" Blossom growled angrily and launched herself forward, bringing the both of them to the ground.

"Oooh, feisty. I take it back, this might be fun after all," Butch said with a sadistic grin. Blossom lifted her fist and brought it down towards him, but he caught it and shoved her away. He stood and bent his legs as though he intended spring, but stopped and relaxed as he heard Brick calling for him.

"Well, damn, this was just starting to get exciting. Maybe some other time, then," Butch told her as he turned to leave.

"Do you really think I'm going to let you get away that easily," Blossom snarled, running forward once more to attack. Butch's leg swung out and caught her in the shin, which stopped her advance and nearly caused her to lose her balance. He grinned at her and patted her on the head. "That was cute," he said, "but you're gonna hafta do better than that next time." Butch then flew off, leaving her scrambling angrily to make her way after him.

She made her way outside fully intending to follow him, but stopped when she saw Buttercup's familiar green streak arcing towards the ground. Blossom looked back at the retreating figures of Butch and his brothers, then shook her head and went to join her sisters.

Blossom followed Buttercup's speeding green streak all the way to the ground, where she found Bubbles lying on a sidewalk and trying to catch her breath. Buttercup was already kneeling down next to the blonde by the time Blossom finally landed.

"I'm fine, guys, really. Brick just caught me in the stomach when I wasn't expecting it," Bubbles panted. Blossom scowled at the thought and knelt to examine her sister. Buttercup cracked her knuckles and asked, "Can we kill them _now_?"

"You know we can't do that, even if we wanted to. We're too evenly matched," Blossom told her. Buttercup stood and kicked a piece of rubble that had fallen from a nearby building - most likely as a result of the fight that had taken place a few minutes ago.

Bubbles recovered herself, and stood to brush the dirt off of her back. Blossom took one more good look at her before deciding that nothing too bad had happened. With a sigh and a reluctant look around at the destruction they had, in part, created, then suggested that the three of them return to school.

* * *

 ** _I think I'll leave it there for today._**

 ** _Hi guys! It's been quite a while. I wasn't sure if I would be able to write much this semester, but when I got the idea for this I just couldn't leave it alone. This was inspired by a few people who sit near me in my Public Speaking class. They were talking about how fall seems to be the "couples' season" (couples' having the s' because it is both plural and possessive - correct me if I'm wrong, though) where everybody gets in a relationship, and summer is the season where everybody breaks up. That got my mind to turning, and I thought I might give it a go as a story._**

 ** _This is a yellows story (BlossomxButch), simply because I couldn't help myself. I'm not sure how it will turn out, but I really enjoyed writing this chapter so I'm pretty sure I'll continue on with the story soon. I just really wanted to get this written while it was still fresh in my mind._**

 ** _If anyone is waiting for the update to Ice and Fire, I'll get to that soon. I'm just a little lost as to how exactly I want to end it._**

 ** _**UPDATE: I have changed the summary and title of the story as well as edited some of the first chapter since its original publication. Sorry for the inconvenience.**_**

 ** _As always, feedback and suggestions are super duper appreciated. See you guys soon!_**

 ** _-ICantThinkofanOriginalName-_**


	2. Chapter 2

The next day dawned dreary and overcast, which was reflected in the mood of each Powerpuff. Even Bubbles was unusually subdued as she went about the house trying to get ready for school. Only the fact that it was Friday and they had the weekend to look forward to gave them any sort of energy.

All through breakfast, Blossom stared sulkily out the window. Orange leaves fluttered past the window in their descent to the ground, and the soggy autumn air could be heard whispering through the nearby trees. Blossom had never been a fan of the fall. She always saw it as the dismal, awkward transitory phase between summer and winter. Inconstant. Uncertain. Blossom detested uncertainty of any sort - and any sort of change, for that matter. She couldn't wait for winter to finally arrive.

As usual, the three sisters left their house together around seven and flew to school. Blossom was in the middle of her usual morning reflection on the work she needed to do for that day when she stopped short in midair and groaned. Her sisters halted their flight as well and turned questioningly to see what was wrong.

"You guys go on ahead, I forgot my notebook," she told them as she thought of the precious five-subject notebook that had been thrown down on the floor the day before. It hadn't mattered as much to her at the time, but she knew she would be taking notes in more than one class today and that notebook was the single most important tool she needed to do so. She waved to her sisters as she turned around to return home, speeding swiftly through the damp morning air.

She slowed as she approached her house, fumbling with her keys. Soon, the door was unlocked and Blossom raced up the stairs to her room, where she grabbed the notebook that lay limply on the floor, then retraced her steps back out of the house. Hastily she re-locked the front door and took to the skies once more.

The school finally came into Blossom's view, and she smiled and tilted herself down towards it - only for something large and heavy to slam into her side and throw her half a mile away. Eventually she tumbled to a stop in the middle of an empty neighborhood road and turned, raising her fists defensively in the direction that the hit had come from.

Butch landed heavily on the ground about ten feet in front of her, and took slow, menacing steps towards where the redhead sat. His sadistic smile twisted further across his face with every heavy step, and his wide, deep-green eyes took on an inhumanly manic expression. Blossom could practically see him shaking with the thrill of the potential fight.

"Toldya we weren't through," he said with a deep laugh. What the heck? Surely he hadn't been serious when he said their fight wasn't over yesterday. How did he even find her? Geez, no wonder Buttercup hated fighting this guy. He was creepy as heck. Blossom stood and raised her hands slightly in front of her in a gesture of peace - she didn't have time for a fight this morning, and she wasn't entirely sure if she could beat someone this crazy on her own anyways. Better to take the safe way out than end up in trouble, after all.

"Okay, um, look," she said, her voice reasonable and authoritative. "What if we take a rain check and revisit this some other time? I have to get to school, and I'm sure you have somewhere else that you would rather be."

The black-haired boy standing in front of her let out a snort of laughter. "School is for pricks. 'Sides, I cleared my whole schedule just for this. I've got all the time in the world, pinky pie," he told her. "That is, unless you're too scared to fight mean ol' Butchie Boy."

It was Blossom's turn to laugh, though she couldn't make it sound nearly as threatening as Butch had. "Do you really call yourself 'Butchie Boy'?"

"Yeah, so? Whatsit to ya?"

"Well, it's not exactly the name I would have chosen for myself right before a fight," she told him. He stopped his slow advance and cocked his head to one side.

"What do ya mean?"

Blossom took a few slight steps back, using his momentary distraction to gain some distance between them. "Well, it's not exactly the coolest name to go by, is it?"

"You sayin' I'm not cool?" he asked, taking yet another heavy, threatening step in her direction. Blossom moved backwards yet again as he stepped forwards, and hastily she attempted to backtrack her side of the conversation slightly. During the movement, Blossom twitched her hand to her pocket as quickly as she could, hoping she had hit the distress button that the Professor had added to her phone. She had never truly had to fight a Rowdyruff Boy on her own with no potential backup nearby, and was wary to do so now; it also didn't help that Buttercup was the only one who actually knew how to fight Butch and win.

"Nonono, that's not what I meant at all. You're cool. Obviously. Super cool. Soooo much cooler than I am. It's just that a name like 'Butchie Boy' doesn't exactly evoke said coolness, do you know what I mean?" It was a weak argument, and she was rambling, but she hoped it was enough to distract him until she could get away. She hated losing more than anything else, and it would kill her to start a fight she wasn't sure she could win; besides, she was positive that she was late for first period by that point.

It seemed to have worked, as Butch halted once more. Some of the mania even seemed to leave his eyes, though they were still wide with the thrill of potential violence. "Awww, Pinky Puff thinks I'm cool? Ya know, it's kinda nice to finally hear somebody else say it." His eyes widened once more, and in a surge of newfound enthusiasm they seemed to throw of sparks of excitement. He took another, smaller step forward, nowhere near as menacing as before, but still dangerous all the same. "What else do you think about me?" he asked, his smile twisting in a whole new way across his face.

Blossom's eyes grew large and round as she took in his change in attitude. Her stance became defensive once more and her hands flipped themselves into fists. "I don't think anything about you," she said.

"Suuurrre you don't. I bet you stay up all night thinking about lil' ol' me. I bet you think about how cool I am, and how sexy I am, and all the things that I could do to you. I bet it just butters your eggroll, doesn't it?" The green of his eyes grew darker, and glinted in the weak morning light as he stared her down. Her face reddened at his suggestion and twisted as a surge of anger passed through her. How dare he suggest such a thing? She was a lady!

"You wish I did," she spat.

"Sure do," he replied with a wicked grin. He took another step, and she lashed out at him. It was a beautiful right hook that would have made even Buttercup proud, and even though he attempted to dodge it, it still caught him in the shoulder. He backed away from her, swinging his arm around to throw of the effects of Blossom's swing. His original sadistic smile reappeared, and the manic look returned to his eyes.

Eyes widening, Blossom realized that he had been goading her into making the first move - and she had gone right for it.

"Oooh, impressive. Didn't know ya had it in ya," he said, his voice growing lower as he began to crouch in front of her. "Guess it's my turn, now."

He shot forward, slamming her into the pavement. She kicked out wildly, catching him with her foot and her knee a few time. It didn't matter to him, though. The fight was what he lived for, and he was very excited to find a new sparring partner.

Blossom shoved against his chest as hard as she could and threw him quite a considerable distance away, if she did say so herself. She stood and dusted herself off, but all too soon Butch had smashed her back into the ground once more. She hadn't even seen him get back up, and had no time to prepare for the blow. Even so, she whipped herself around and kicked out - just in time, too. Her foot caught him square in the diaphragm, and he fell, breathless, to the ground.

Taking advantage of his weakness, Blossom went for the quickest, most surefire way she could think of to end the fight, and shot a famous, burning-hot laser beam from her eyes.

And immediately regretted it.

It seemed she had forgotten to consider an important factor in her decision - the glasses. The beam burned straight through them and melted the frames with its heat. She fell to her knees and swiped at the molten liquid that was now invading her face. The searing plastic that had once held her spectacles in place now clung to her skin and refused to come off. It was a horrible, painful, sticky, disgusting mess. To make matters worse, she was almost certain that the melted material had made it's way into her hair. And the smell! Ugh, it was horrible.

In an unusual fit of rage, Blossom slammed her fists against the ground. She could feel the brittle cement crack around her, which gave her some satisfaction in her frustration. It had been years since she had thrown a temper tantrum, but now seemed as good a time as any. She beat against the ground a few more times and let out a low scream, triggering a laughing fit from Butch. His laughter woke her back up to the situation at hand, and her hands unclenched themselves and resumed tearing at the melted plastic invading her face.

She got what she could off of her face and braced herself for the ruthless attack that was surely coming for her. The now-blurred form of Butch slowly approached her, and she could practically feel the air shake with his hysterical laughter. Something touched her face, and her fists swung out instinctively. Butch caught them easily and held them to the side with a single hand.

"Hold still, dammit," he said in the midst of his chortling. She pulled her face away as something touched it again - his hand. He grabbed her roughly by the bangs and pulled her back to face him. "I told you to hold the fuck still!"

The now-cooling plastic-y goo that now covered her face was roughly being pulled off, bit by bit. In her confusion as to the turn of events, Blossom froze. A minute passed, and Butch finally threw her hands down and stepped back.

"Damn, I thought you was supposed to be the smart one," Butch said, still laughing. "Don't you know it's no fun fighting without a challenge? You were doin' all right for a bit, but then you had to go and screw the whole thing over. The hell is wrong with you?"

Blossom touched her face. Sure enough, most of the plastic was gone from it. She struggle to find the right words to fit this situation, and started to stumble across a few. "Wha-...but I thought...what the heck did you just do me?!"

She couldn't really see it, but he rolled his eyes at her. "Just evenin' out the playin' field," he said, before swinging his large fist at her face and knocking her flat out on the ground.

When she came to, the familiar forms of her sisters were hanging above her. One of them - Buttercup, she assumed - was shaking her roughly. She sat up and rubbed at her face, which burned when she touched it. Ugh, she must look a mess.

"What the _hell_ happened to you?!"

"Buttercup - language," Blossom halfheartedly chided.

"You think I give a damn about that right now? I was sitting in class, and next thing I know I'm getting an emergency signal from your phone. It took me and Bubbles ten minutes to find you! And when we did, you're passed out on the fucking ground and your face has been destroyed!"

"Buttercup, calm down," Bubbles cut off her rant with her soft, soothing voice. The blonde reached down to help Blossom stand up, and dusted the rubble from her clothes. "But Blossom, she's right. You do look awful. Who did this?"

"It was -" Blossom paused. She wasn't entirely sure why, but she didn't want to tell her sisters about the fight between her and Butch. In a strange way, she didn't want them getting involved. He had crossed a line and made it personal, and now it was between her and him, and that's how it was going to end - no middle men were going to be involved. "- the Gangreen Gang. I saw them, and when I went to confront them Big Billy knocked me back. I was an idiot and tried to shoot an eye-beam at them, and it ruined my glasses."

Buttercup cracked her knuckles. "I'm gonna kill 'em," the brunette muttered, but Blossom was shaking her head before she even finished the statement.

"Some other time," she told Buttercup. "They're not worth going after. Besides, I just want to get home."

"You're right, we need to get you to the Professor," Bubbles agreed, and the two of them took off for their house, Buttercup trailing angrily behind.

* * *

Blossom had healed completely by the next morning, and all signs of the fight between her and Butch had disappeared. She had been obliged to miss all of school the day before, a fact which peeved her off at least as much as the fight itself. The only bright side was that Bubbles had been nice enough to pick up the work that she had missed and bring it home for her.

She was sitting at her desk and working on that now. The Professor had brought her a replacement prescription that morning, as well as three more back up pairs - "just in case", he had told her. It was hard for her to focus on the work in front of her. She cupped her chin in her hand and tapped her pen against the desktop. How could she have been so stupid yesterday? And for her to go and lose like that? It was humiliating. She could imagine Butch sitting with his stupid brothers and laughing about her blunder. The thought made her hand curl tighter around her pen, and the plastic began to crack under the strain. She should never have engaged in the first place. In fact, she really should have just turned around and gone on to school.

No, she thought. She _should_ have engaged. After all, he had attacked first. The only regret that she should have was that she allowed him to get the upper hand - and that certainly wouldn't be happening again. With a smile, she pushed her school work to the side and grabbed her favorite five subject notebook, flipping to the first empty page she found. She titled the page "Butch Jojo" and stared down at it. It had been years since she had planned out strategies and tactics for fighting an enemy - it had been years since she had had an enemy worth creating tactics for. She felt the thrill that came with revisiting a favorite childhood pastime. Her pen began to move furiously across the page, back and forth, filling line upon line with everything she had noticed about their fights and possible counters for his attacks. She even switched to a pen that wrote in pink ink, just for old times sake.

Before she knew it, four pages were covered in her neat, pink, cursive writing. There were little doodles and arrows and areas scribbled out and topics and categories and hastily written ideas. It was exciting. It had been a long time since she had felt challenged by anything. Time flew without her realizing it, and soon she found that she had spent nearly two hours on her tactical planning. She was actually rather proud of it. There was a smile on her face that she tried to press down, but just kept coming back each time she thought of what she had just done. She even let a giggle or two escape.

There was a soft knock at her door, and she slammed her notebook shut and shoved it away from her as though it contained damning evidence of some crime. Blossom still felt that her sisters didn't need to know about what had really happened the day before, and didn't want to be caught in her lie - at least, not until she had made up for her embarrassing failure.

Bubbles entered quietly and greeted her sister with a pleasant "hello". She skipped happily over to Blossom's bed and sat down, patting the spot right next to her as a sign for her sister to join her. Blossom did, and as she sat down Bubbles hooked arms with her and leaned into her personal space.

"I know you've been kinda upset lately, so I went and found this for you," Bubbles said, waving a photograph in front of her. It was of the two of them and Buttercup. They were all quite young, and looked very similar to every other picture from that time in their life, except for the fact that -

"You had glasses," Blossom said quietly. "Oh, wow, I completely forgot."

"Yeah," Bubbles responded. "You and Buttercup made a lot of fun of me then. But then you needed me to rescue you guys, and Buttercup shot me in the eyes and everything turned out fine," she finished with a grin.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry we did that," Blossom said sincerely. "Didn't you also lose your hearing, too, though?"

"Yeah, but the Professor fixed that pretty quickly, remember"

Blossom laughed lightly. "Yeah. Maybe I should get Buttercup to shoot me and I'll be able to see."

Bubbles looked at her sister apologetically. "Maybe, but the Professor said that it had something to do with my powers changing. Yours was...well, it was just an accident. I don't know if it would work for you."

Blossom sighed. The blonde girl was right. "I know. Just wishful thinking. But I'll get better soon, you'll see."

Her sister nodded at her statement, though Blossom suspected that it was more out of pity than true agreement. "Anyways," the blonde continued, "I just thought you needed a pick-me-up. I do kinda know what you're going through, after all."

"Thanks, Bubbles."

Bubbles made a slight movement, as if to get off the bed, but then turned back excitedly towards Blossom. "Oh! I completely forgot to tell you. About your couples' season-" Blossom rolled her eyes as Bubbles began to speak. She couldn't believe that her sister really intended to go through with her plan. "- and I think he would be perfect! He already said he's interested, so I went ahead and gave him your number. You're going to be so cute together!" she finished with a squeak.

"Whoawhoawhoa, slow down. Who are you even talking about?"

"Mike!" Bubbles exclaimed. "Oh, Blossom, please say you'll give him a chance! I really do think the two of you would be super cute together."

"Wh-I-NO!" Blossom spluttered. "I haven't even talked to him since elementary school. How the heck do you expect that to work out?"

"All he needs is a little encouragement. C'mon Bloss, give it a shot!"

"No."

"But-"

"No!"

"Ugh, fine." Bubbles stood up from the bed and stomped her way out of the room, making a point to make as much noise as possible. Blossom just rolled her eyes again and returned to her desk, where, yet again, she was unable to focus on her homework. Mike, huh? Well, she supposed he was all right. He didn't look half bad either.

Blossom gave a short snort of laughter at herself. Was she really considering what Bubbles was saying? Ha. She didn't even really know the guy. She'd have sooner dated Butch - at least she had talked to him recently. She shook the mental image from her head and pulled her work back in front of her, forcing herself to stare down and get busy with the task at hand.

* * *

Monday rolled around once more, and Blossom took on her usual preparations for the day. There was no sign of Butch on the way to school, so she was sure that there would be no altercation between the two of them that day - though, if she had to admit it, ever since she started making attack plans based on him, she was almost itching for a chance to try fighting him again. She would win the next time. She had to. It was personal. Her pride wouldn't be able to stand it if she lost again.

That day was particularly stressful for her. She had fallen behind greatly in her schoolwork, and if she wanted to maintain her GPA she needed get back on track immediately. As it was, she had to stay after for nearly an hour doing makeup tutorials for the classes she had missed. The school was almost completely deserted by the time she had left, aside from a few teachers and a gaggle of underclassmen who had missed their bus and were unable to catch a ride home with anybody.

Just as she was about to take off for home, something hard and sharp hit her in the back of the head - a rock, by the feel of it. She turned towards the direction it seemed to come from and found Butch leaning cooling against the brick wall of the school. He was repeatedly throwing another rock into the air and catching it, staring at the object that left and returned to his hand continually instead of making eye contact with her. Blossom's eyes narrowed in his direction, and she could see a slight smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

His green eyes darted up to meet her pink ones, and the smile finally took over his whole face. "How 'bouta rematch?" he asked, and chucked the rock in his hand at her face.

She turned and let the small rock glide past her, then set her backpack on the ground. Now was the chance to redeem herself, and she fully intended to get the upper hand early on this time. She shot into the air, heading straight up into the sky. Somewhere behind her, Butch had done the same. Quickly she rose, higher and higher, until, suddenly, she flipped back around and headed straight for Butch at full speed. He was surprised, she could tell, and wasn't able to move out of the way in time. She slammed into him at full force, shoving him down to the ground below them.

He crashed into the school in a massive explosion of brick and dust - shoot, Blossom would probably get in trouble for that. Oh well, too late to think about that now. She couldn't let him recover himself, so she followed him into the area he had landed, fully expecting to bring her foot down right on top of his head.

It seemed he anticipated her, though, and caught her ankle easily. He swung her in an arc and launched her back into the sky, then followed closely behind.

Blossom corrected herself in midair, and Butch was soon floating in front of her. He had his arms folded casually across his chest, and his eyes shone with mirth. "Wow, I must say I am _impressed_. You're really shaping up, ain't ya sweetheart."

Ugh, his grammar. If anything, Blossom hated him for that. He and his brothers had never known how to speak right. Tch. Idiots. "I think you find that I'm a lot better than you had originally anticipated," she said as she smoothed out some invisible wrinkles on her shirt.

"I should hope so," he said with a laugh. Then, with another wicked grin, he said, "I like the specs, bro. They new?"

She shot him a glare. He just had to push her buttons, didn't he. "I wouldn't laugh at me like that. You might regret it."

"Oh-ho, pinky's got an attitude now. Why did I ever bother with Butterbitch when lil' red here's got the whole package." He looked her up and down and then added, "A coupla packages, actually, if you catch my drift."

Blossom's face tinged with red - he was doing it again. How dare he! She was about to launch herself at him once more when, in the distance, the other Rowdyruffs appeared, calling out for their missing brother.

"Shit," Butch hissed through his teeth as he saw them coming. Then, with a smile that had lost all of its previous excitement, he told Blossom, "guess we'll have to finish some other time."

He took off in the direction of the other Ruffs. Without thinking fully about what she was doing, Blossom took off after him. Butch turned in midair and caught her, shoving her away from him. "I said later! They won't hesitate to rip you apart, ya know. And that's my job." He shot away from her once more, leaving her to float slowly back towards where she left her backpack. It seemed like she wouldn't be able to redeem herself just yet after all.

* * *

 _ **Well, I think that's a good place to stop for today. I just wanted to briefly thank Rhearenee for her comment reminding me about the episode "Bubblevision". I had been looking for a way to establish a better connection between Blossom and Bubbles, and that provided the perfect way for me to do it. Thank you so much!**_

 _ **As always, there is most certainly room for improvement in my writing and I appreciate any and all feedback about it. Thank you all sooooo much for giving this story a chance, and especially those who were kind enough to follow and review. I'll see y'all in the next chapter!**_

 _ **-ICantThinkofanOriginalName-**_


End file.
